Sketches of prominent Tennesseans. Containing biographies and records of many of the families who have attained prominence in Tennessee, Part 95

Author: Speer, William S
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Nashville, A. B. Tavel
Number of Pages: 1278

USA > Tennessee > Sketches of prominent Tennesseans. Containing biographies and records of many of the families who have attained prominence in Tennessee > Part 95

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

them have ever sought political preferment or filled political office. Rev. Joseph B. Hadden, uncle of the subject of this sketch, was for many years a prominent Presbyterian minister in Kentucky.

Mr. Hadden's mother was Jane Park, a lady of Irish descent; the sister of ex- Mayor John Park, of Memphis, and of David and Samuel Park. She was a woman of strong traits of character, extraordinary religious tem- perament, and a member of the Presbyterian church. Her father was John Park, who came to America from Ireland in 1825, and settled in Elkton, Kentucky, where he died, in 1837.

Mr. Hadden is the only surviving representative of the family, and has no children. ' He was married on the 25th of September, 1873, to Miss Mary Boyd, daugh- ter of A. M. Boyd, a native of Georgia, now living in Memphis. Mrs. Hadden was educated at Vassar Col- lege, graduated there in 1872, and is distinguished for the wide range of her accomplishments, which embrace music and drawing, as well as'the domestic arts.

HION. DAVID N. KENNEDY.

CLAKRSVILLE.

T ITIS gentleman, now president of the Northern Bank of Tennessee; president of the Clarksville American Bible Society ; president of the Clarksville Board of Underwriters ; member of the board of di- rectors and secretary of the Southwesern Presbyterian University; member of the board of directors and treasurer of the Clarksville Gas Company; member of the board of directors of the Clarksville Water Com- pany ; member of the board of directors and secretary and treasurer of the Greenwood Cemetery Company (which was established mainly through his influence, and, it is due to him and to Clarksville to say, is the most beautiful in the State, excepting only Mount Olivet at. Nashville, and Elmwood at Memphis); an elder in the Presbyterian church for the past twenty-five years, and Sunday-school superintendent for fifteen years; now the senior bank officer in Tennessee ; president of the oldest bank in the State, and the senior business man of Clarksville, having been a citizen of that town for forty-two years, and of Tennessee for forty eight years-his life presents many points worth the study of young men who would rise in the world. It may be observed that his rise has been gradual, his capital be- ing at first very small.

His grandfather, James Kennedy, removed from Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, to Garrard county, Kentucky, when that now highly cultivated county was but a wilderness, and improved one of the first places outside of the forts. The father of Mr. D.

N. Kennedy, William Kennedy, in the same spirit of adventure, displayed equal energy in removing to what. is now known as the " Green river country," in Ken- tucky, and settled in Logan county (now Todd), near the present town of Elkton, where the subject of this sketch was born, February 28, 1820. Although his father was a farmer with a limited estate, and with a large family to provide for, he was unsparing of his means and time in promoting all public and benevolent enterprises. He was a devoted Presbyterian, and did not fail to impress, by strict discipline and instruction, the spirit and genius of the religion of his church on his children. In advance rather of the times, with the view of giving an impetus to the cause of education and religion, he gave the ground and other means and much of his time and attention to the erection of what was well known as the " Presbyterian Seminary," an insti- tution most eligibly situated near Elkton, but which, from a variety of causes, has since been permitted to go down, and in its abandonment the aims of a most noble heart were entirely defeated. The cause of edu- cation being so dear to him, it was doubtless. his inten- tion to give his son a most liberal one, but while taking the initiative, he died, September 22, 1832.

Then began the self-relying exertions of David N. Kennedy. Leaving school, of his own choice, shortly after the death of his father, he took a situation with his brother as common laborer in a wool manufactory in Elkton. After some months faithful toil, with the

430

PROMINENT TENNESSEANS.

consent of his relations, he accepted a situation in a retail dry goods store four years in the same town, and removed to Nashville, in 1838. His unremitting atten- tion and fidelity to business was soon rewarded by his employers in that city, who made him their confidential elerk until the cessation of their business in 1810. On being notified of his release from his former engage- ment, R. H. Gardner & Co., wholesale merchants of great sagacity, who had observed his habits and knew his qualifications, offered him a similar situation, which he accepted, in 1810, and retained until his removal to Clarksville, in 1812, to go into business, on his own ac- count, in connection with Mr. John S. Hart (who had been for some time his co-laborer as a clerk). The firm of Hart & Kennedy continued in business till 1850, when Mr. Kennedy, in consequence of ill health, re- tired, leaving his partner in possession of a highly lucrative trade, built up by the most assiduous atten- tion and adherence to such principles as rarely fail to secure the confidence of communities and the approba- tion of an enlightened conscience. Although their capital was limited in the beginning, they competed successfully with their neighbors enjoying the benefits of longer acquaintance and more extensive means.

Antecedent to his marriage, in 1843, his residence in Clarksville was not regarded as so permanent as subse- quent changes in his relations caused it to be. Hence, in 18444, he was made a director in the branch bank of Tennessee. In 1815, his appointment was renewed and the directory elected him president, although the junior member of the board. In 1816, the Legislature, with a view of winding up the bank, put the Clarksville branch, with others, in a state of gradual liquidation, appointing an agent through the parent board with an advisory committee, of which Mr. Kennedy was a member. It eventually appearing impolitie to wind up the bank, and highly desirable that the State should participate in the profits which might be obtained from the extensive trade of Clarksville, the Legislature, in 1850, re-established the branch, devolving upon the parent board the duty of reorganizing it. In pursuance of this injunction, a new directory was formed, among whom was Mr. Kennedy, and by whom he was elected president, which office be filled till November, 1850. The resignation of the cashier, Thomas W. Barksdale, at this time devolved upon the directory the necessity of electing another. In casting about Mr. Kennedy was thought the most suitable person to fill the vacancy, but it was not known whether he would accept it, as he would have to give up the presidency as well as his commercial operations. On being approached it was found agreeable to him to do so in view of his feeble health. Thereupon he resigned as president and was unanimously elected cashier.

Having organized the Northern Bank at Clarksville, on January Ist, 1854, he became its president, which position he has filled continuously till the present time.

This bank, organized by the same stockholders that now own it, and with the same leading officers, viz., Mr. Kennedy as president, and Mr. James L. Glenn as cashier, maintained its existence during the war, the assets being removed to a safe place, the cashier remain. ing on hand, ready to meet all claims, though business had to be done on street corners and in private cham- bers. Of the thirty-six firms or persons on whom the bank purchased bills during the first year of its exist- ence, only one, Messrs. Sawyer, Wallace & Co., of New York, are now doing business; of their twenty-two bank correspondents, all but five afterward failed, and only three, the American Exchange Bank and the Metro- politan Bank of New York, and A. D. Hunt & Co., o Louisville, are now engaged in business ; of the threef hundred depositors there were living in the vicinity of Clarksville, in 1879, only twenty-two, eighteen of whom continued as depositors. During the seven years prior to the war, the entire losses of the bank did not exceed five hundred dollars, and it has never suspended pay- ment, though it has passed through four years of war and the commercial panies of 1857, 1861 and 1873.

In 1860, Mr. Kennedy was unanimously elected presi- dent of the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville rail- road, but declined the position.

A pronounced Henry Clay Whig up to the war, in favor of a protective tariff and internal improvements, and a stanch Union man, Mr. Kennedy voted, in 1860, for Bell and Everett, but when it became evident, in 1861, that the Union could not be saved, he went with the secessionists, and was, in August, 1861, unanimously elected to the lower house of the Tennessee Legisla- ture from Montgomery county, was made chairman of the committee on finance, and upon the resignation of the chairman of the committee on military affairs, was elected to that position.

Tennessee being overrun by the Federal troops, the Legislature having first moved to Memphis and ad- journed, and he being physically unable to bear arms, cast his lot with the southern army, and rendered service in the treasury department, under appointment from President Davis, remaining in that position until Gen. Johnston's surrender, when he returned to his home, where, as soon as a pardon was obtained from President Johnson, he reopened the Northern Bank.

In November, 1869, he was unanimously elected from Montgomery county a delegate to the Tennessee State constitutional convention of 1870, in which he was an active, energetic and influential member. This closes his political career, his resolution being then taken never again to accept any public office. Since that time he has been an active church worker.

Mr. Kennedy married, at Clarksville, November 22, 1813, Miss Sarah 1. Bailey, a native of Wilkinson county, Mississippi, daughter of James Bailey, origi- nally from North Carolina, and of Scotch blood. Hle was a cotton planter in Mississippi, and was a brother

١ ١٠٠٠

431

PROMINENT TENNESSEANS.

of Maj. Charles Bailey, of Montgomery county, Ten- nessee, a prominent and honored citizen, and the father of the late United States senator, James E. Bailey.

Mrs. Kennedy's mother, nee Miss Lucinda Brown, of Wilkinson county, Mississippi, died when the daughter was an infant ; and her father dying when she was ten years old, she was raised by her unele, Maj. Charles Bailey, before mentioned. She graduated from the old Nashville Female Academy, under Dr. C. D. Elliott, and is noted for her finely balanced character, the lead ing traits of which are benevolence and firmness, blended with gentleness. She has been admirably suc- cessful in training her daughters to become women, filling their positions with credit and distinction. She is a very efficient and earnest church worker, and her charities are limited only by her means and oppor- tunities.

By his marriage with Miss Bailey, Mr. Kennedy has six children : (1). Mary B. Kennedy, graduated at the Clarksville Female Academy ; married, in 1870, B. II. Owen, a druggist at Clarksville, and has three children, Sallie K., John D. and Mary K. (2). James T. Ken- nedy, born June 21, 1853; educated at Stewart College, Clarksville, and is now a tobacco warehouseman and commission merchant at that place; married, Decem- ber 1, 1885, Miss Lois Viser, daughter of James Il. Viser, of Manatee, Florida. (3). Sallie G. Kennedy, graduated from the Clarksville Female Academy; married, in 1879, Rev. T. J. Plunket, a graduate of the Southwestern Presbyterian University, at Clarks- ville, and of the Union Theological Seminary, Colum- bia, South Carolina (a brother of Dr. J. D. Plunket, of Nashville, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume), and now pastor of the Second Presbyterian church at Covington, Kentucky. They have three chil- dren, Thomas Smythe, Henry Clark and Paul Wood. (4). Clara Stuart Kennedy, educated at Miss Baldwth's Fe- male Seminary at Staunton, Virginia, graduating in several schools without taking a full course ; married, in 1881, to Robert H. Burney, a prominent lawyer, and at present attorney-general of the Clarksville ,criminal

court. They have two children, Robert II. and Sarah K. (5). David Newton Kennedy, an afflicted son. (6). Ellen B. Kennedy, graduated in several schools at Miss Baldwin's Seminary, Staunton, Virginia; married, in October, 1882, J. W. Clapp, jr., son of Hon. J. W. Clapp, of Memphis (whose sketch see elsewhere in this volume). They have one child, James Alston.

Mr. Kennedy and all the members of his family are members of the Presbyterian church.

Beginning life on a very small patrimony, Mr. Ken- nedy has acquired fortime by industry, sagacity and economy, close attention to business in all its details, and by a determination from the very outset of his busi- ness career never to spend as much during a year as he made in that year, and never to engage in outside spec- ulations. From the time he received only seventy-five dollars a year as salary, he has carried out this plan, except during the war. He never engaged in anything he did not understand and that he could not give his personal attention and management except once, in 1853, when he engaged in the iron business; and lost fifty thousand dollars. He has been always temperate, though not totally abstemious; always moral, never hav- ing any of the vices supposed to be common to boys, and from the age of twenty-four has been a consistent mem- ber of the church. His purpose in life from the begin- ning was to be a success, and to win it in an honorable way, and to be useful as a member of society.

The late Hon. James E. Bailey, speaking to the editor, said of Mr. Kennedy: "His success is due to himself and to no one else ; to his energy, capacity and devotion to business, whatever it was, whether as cash- ier of the branch bank of Tennessee, or as president of his own bank. All his undertakings are carried on with all his might and main, neglecting nothing which is necessary to success. He is a.man who thinks, and is ever ready to carry out his thoughts by action, both in church and State. I regard him as one of the ablest and wisest men in Tennessee in my day. His policy has always been the safe one. You have, in Mr. Kennedy, the most distinguished character who has lived in Clarksville for many years."

HON. ABSALOM ARTHUR KYLE.

ROGERSVILLE.

A BSALOM ARTHUR KYLE was born February 20, 1818, upon a farm on the Tennessee river, six miles west of' Rogersville, Hawkins county, Tennessee. Ile was a son of Absalom Kyle, who was born in the same county, November 4, 1789, and whose father, Robert Kyle, was an frishman, having emigrated to this country from the north of Ireland, and was one of

the early pioneers to Tennessee, while that territory formed a part of North Carolina. The mother of Ab- salom Kyle was a Brooks, of English 'extraction, and was blessed with a numerous progeny, of whom Absa- lom was the youngest. The latter, in 1812, married Beersheba, daughter of Pharaoh and Beersheba Cobb, who were from North Carolina, and of English descent.

432

PROMINENT TENNESSEANS.

Thirteen children-eight sons and five daughters-were the fruits of this marriage, the subject of this notice being the third son in the order of birth. He was raised upon the farm, receiving, in early youth, such in- struction as in that primitive day was given to children of his age, in the "old field," or common schools of his section. His father, however, being determined to give him a classical training, sent him, when in his fifteenth year, to MeMinn Academy, at Rogersville, Ten- nessee, and placed him under the tutelage of Stokely D. Mitchell, who graduated in the class with President James K. Polk, at Chapel Hill, North Carolina. There young Kyle remained for three years, and completed his academic course in 1835. In 1836, he was sent to the university at Knoxville, where he finished his edu- cation and graduated in 1838.

Returning home after his graduation, he remained upon the farm until 1810, when, choosing the law as his profession, he went to Rogersville, and read law with Col. John Netherland, until September, 1842, when he was called to the bar, Judges Edward Scott and Robert Anderson signing his license. He at once entered upon the duties of the profession, which he actively prose- cuted for several years.

On the 11th of June, 1846, at Tazewell, Tennessee, he married Mary A., daughter of Hugh and Catharine Graham, then in her twenty-sixth year. This pious lady was, for forty-five years, an exemplary member of the Presbyterian church, coy and reserved in her na- ture, beloved by all who knew her, and distinguished by her noble and unostentatious charities. She died, in the year 1884, deeply lamented by all who ever came within the circle of her acquaintance.

In October, 1847, he was elected by the General Is- sembly of Tennessee attorney-general for the First ju- dicial circuit for six years. He accepted the office and discharged its functions with much ability.

In April, 1854, he was chosen a delegate to represent his people in the commercial convention, then held at Charleston, South Carolina; after which he continued the practice of law until the late civil war.

In 1861, he was a Union candidate for the convention at Nashville, to which he was elected, beating his com- petitor, Reuben Arnold, son of the late tien. T. D. Arnold, by over six thousand votes, in the counties of Jefferson, Greene, Hancock and Hawkins. With all the power and ability he possessed, he combated the doctrine of secession, both upon the rostrum and in the walks of private life, until the question ceased to be de- batable, and passed beyond the influence of argument or reason.

After the commencement of hostilities, he remained quietly at his home, in Rogersville, until the Federal forces occupied East Tennessee, when he passed through the Confederate lines and resumed the practice of his profession at Knoxville, where he stayed till May, 1865. In 1861, he supported Lincoln for the presidency.

In the winter of 1863-64; he visited Washington City, in company with Gov. Johnson, by whom he was in. troduced to President Lincoln. Remaining there six weeks, he and the President became quite intimate, and so prepossessed was the latter with Mr. Kyle that he tendered him the office of United States district at- torney for East Tennessee, which, however, was de- clined, but he requested that the office be given to a friend, Col. C. W. Hall, which was done. In 1865, he became supervisor of bank's in Tennessee.

In 1866, he was appointed, without solicitation, by President Johnson, and confirmed by the senate, United States direct tax commissioner of Tennessee. While in this office, three hundred thousand dollars were col- lected, every dollar of which was paid over and faith- fully accounted for.

In the representative district, composed of the coun- ties of Hancock, Hawkins. Greene and Jefferson-all Republican counties-he was elected as a Democrat to the constitutional convention of 1870, over W. P. Gil- lenwaters, Republican. In 1865, he became a prominent candidate for the United States senate, but was defeated by David T. Patterson, son-in-law of President Johnson.

In 1866, he allied himself with the Democratic party, in consequence of his repugnance and opposition to the radical reconstruction measures and the disfranchising policy of the State, under Gov. Brownlow's administra- tion. In 1868, he was the elector in the First district of Tennessee on the Seymour ticket, since which time he has been frequently mentioned, by the press and by the people throughout the State, as a fit person to oc- cupy the gubernatorial chair.

At the close of the war he owned considerable prop- erty, but being kind-hearted, generous, and liberal to a fault, had endorsed for many friends, which utterly ruined him. financially. Yet, in the general wreck, he sought not to conceal or cover up his property from his ereditors, but surrendered all he had, thus exempli- fying, in an eminent degree, one of the principal traits of his character, that of honesty and scrupulous integ- rity. . After his financial failure he continued to prac- tice law up to the fall of 1875, when he retired to a farm, on the East Tennessee railroad, at Russellville, where he quietly lived until the 22d of April, 1884, when death deprived him of his beloved wife, at the age of sixty- four. The happening of this sad event caused him to make a change of domicile, and his children, being all married and forisfamiliated, he returned to Rogersville, where he made his home with his son, Hugh G. Kyle, esq.

Mr. Kyle died at the residence of his brother, Gen. W. C. Kyle, near Whitesburg, Tennessee, while there on a temporary visit, on the 15th of November, 1885. His death was sudden and unexpected, without the least premonition or warning, and was, doubtless, caused by a stroke of heart disease, of which he previously had an attack. He retired to rest, in his usual health, on the

.1.

٠٠

433

PROMINENT TENNESSEANS.

night of the 14th, and next morning was found in his bed a corpse, having manifestly passed away without a pain or a struggle.

The untimely death of this good man, for he was only in his sixty-eighth year, with an apparent promise of great longevity, cast a gloom over the entire com munity, a people who had known him and loved him for years. It has been said that it is difficult for public men' to live and flourish without making enemies. Mr. Kyle, however, it may be truthfully remarked, was an exception. He had no enemies, but lived respected, and died much regretted by all who knew him.

Mr. Kyle practiced law for thirty five years, and his intercourse with the bench and bar was distinguished for courtesy of deportment and probity of character. HIe preferred rather to lose a case than gain it by unfair means, or a disreputable act. Although fond of poli- tics, he was not a politician, in the modern sense; his reputation being chiefly attained as an honest man, a fair-minded, just and skillful lawyer. So notorious was his integrity that he acquired the sobriquet of " Honest App."

But the strong natural powers of Mr. Kyle's mind lay dormant until 1861, when the stability of the Union was threatened and assailed. Then it was that his latent energies were aroused, and he became conspicuous as one of the Union leaders of the State. In connection with such men as President Johnson, Col. John Neth- erland, Judge Nelson, Judge Luckey, and others, he breasted the coming storm and sought to avert the im- pending calamity. Ilis exertions and example in this direction fostered loyalty to the Union among the peo- ple of East Tennessee, for which they have ever since been distinguished. He, like his father before him, was a man of great individuality, and a natural leader of men. Mr. Kyle's devotion to the principles of the constitu- tion which ordained these States into one strong general government, was sincere and unaffected. While con- ceding the right of the several States to regulate their own municipal affairs, he had no patience with the theory of secession, or the right of each State to withdraw from the Union at her own will, and establish indo- pendent governments, Hence, when the late conflict of arms was ended, and it became a question whether the southern States were in or out of the Union, Mr. Kyle opposed the measures of reconstruction, logically maintaining that the States had never gone out, within the purview of the constitution, and were, therefore, entitled to representation in the American Congress. This drove him into the Democratic party, although a great Unionist, and a Whig, in ante bellum days. The policy of disfranchisement, too, adopted by the Repub- lican-then called the Radical-party in Tennessee and other southern States, was distasteful to him, and not congenial to his nature. While the conflict was raging, none desired the success of Federal arms and over. throw of the Confederates more than he, yet when the

latter were finally defeated and subjugated by the armies of the Union, instead of pursuing a policy of vindictiveness and disfranchisement toward a fallen foe, he would treat them as wayward brothers who had, like the prodigal of old, left their father's house, but now returned, restore them to all the rights of citizen - ship and invite them to again participate in the liber- ties of a great republic. `This sentiment exemplified the forgiving nature of the man, and did credit to his goodness of heart

Other celebrities in Tennessee may have possessed more versatility of genius, their eradition may have been deeper and more profound, but in strong native intel- leet and common sense, embellished with much culture, unselfish patriotism and devotion to the principles of goverment which he deemed best for the common weal, leaving out of view his personal preferment, he was almost without a compeer.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Sketches of prominent Tennesseans. Containing biographies and records of many of the families who have attained prominence in Tennessee, Part 95

Author: Speer, William S Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Nashville, A. B. Tavel Number of Pages: 1278

Author: Speer, William S
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Nashville, A. B. Tavel
Number of Pages: 1278